This week, Lunar and Spirit were down by the other barn, so I was given another mini teacher. I was instructed carefully on how to put on Lunar’s halter, how to hold the lead and what to do when she starts pulling. (I discovered on my own what do when she gets near the barn and decides that she’s not ready to go in quite yet and veers off the path).

As we walked by the corral, I noticed that one horse in particular was following our departure closely. She’d stood next to the fence while we prepared the two horses but hadn’t made a sound. When we started walking away, she moved so that she could see us still and whinnied. As we moved farther away, she came along as far as the fences allowed her. And as we gained distance, her whinnies became more insistent and lasted longer. I kept acknowledging her as we walked along, trying to comfort her. I doubt she heard me through her sadness, though.

A while later, I went in search of Gulliver. He often spends all day at the other barn and while on most days, he’s standing at the gate waiting for dinner, he’s not always there. Part of my job is to find him and convince him to come home.

This time, while unsuccessfully locating him in the lower barn, I couldn’t help but notice that the horse (Stormy, I was told) was in her pen, crying like crazy. It turns out that she and Spirit are best friends and being separated at night is really upsetting her. It’s hard watching animals in this state of anguish. I wish I could stroke her forehead, whisper that she’ll see him tomorrow, and that she’d understand. If only…

Hi Patty! Thanks!
Spirit was put in the other pen to give him more space and deal with his food aggression issues. They were in pens near each other until Moonie passed and then it was determined that, out of all the horses, Spirit needed the pen most. It is sad, but they do get to spend time with each other during the day.